Jose Mourinho lamented the 'Spanish' ref he claims cost his Roma side dear after his remarkable run in European finals was ended at the hands of Sevilla.
The Portuguese boss saw his side lead at half time in the Europa League final after Paulo Dybala's crisp finish but they were pegged back after the break after Gianluca Mancini deflected a cross into his own net. A turgid extra time period followed, before the 'Sevillistas' secured a seventh crown by prevailing 4-1 on penalties.
It was Mourinho's first defeat in six UEFA competition finals, but the eccentric 60-year-old still found a way to attract the limelight afterwards. Clearly not keen to hold on to his maiden silver medal, he appeared to throw it to a young fan in the crowd before heading off down the tunnel whilst the presentations were still ongoing.
It was a difficult night for English official Anthony Taylor, who dished out yellow cards to 13 players and had to deal with frequent dissent and protests from both benches. Mourinho himself was also yellow carded for good measure, and afterwards he took aim at Taylor and accused him of an "unfair" performance.
"The truth is that we are all very sad, with or without crying the truth is this," he said, via RomaPress. "We will get home dead of tiredness and dead because of tonight’s unfair refereeing display. Great game, great final, intense, gritty, vibrant, but the referee seemed Spanish. Too many yellow cards for us then he doesn’t give Lamela his second yellow allowing him to take a penalty in the end.”
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However, the 'Special One' still had praise for his players, who must now win their final Serie A game against Spezia on Sunday to secure Europa League football again next season: "Tonight we died of mental and physical fatigue, there are so many episodes to talk about.
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"Without the trophy in our hands, we are dead tired and proud. You can lose a game, but never your professionalism. I won five finals and lost this one, but I’ve never been more proud than I am tonight. The guys gave it all.”
Regardless of the result on the weekend, attention will now turn to Mourinho's future in Rome, amid speculation he's to be offered the managerial position at French giants PSG. But despite claiming he's not been in contact with other clubs, he also tellingly stopped short of committing his future to his current club.
“"I said a few months ago that if I had contact with any other club I would say it to the ownership, I wouldn’t do anything secretly," he insisted. "I can’t say objectively that I will stay. I have another year of contract with Roma, the situation is clear.”
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